StatesDelhi
Delhi's air worsens to AQI 277 by Sunday evening as the city logs its coldest 1 November since 2023
Twenty-five of the capital's 54 monitoring stations were in the 'very poor' band, while the minimum temperature dropped to 18 degrees, nearly two degrees below normal.
Key points
- Delhi's air quality index climbed to 277, in the 'poor' category, up from 214 in the morning.
- 25 of 54 monitoring stations recorded 'very poor' air and 18 were 'poor'.
- The minimum of 18°C was the lowest for 1 November since 2023.
Delhi’s air slid further into the ‘poor’ category through Sunday, with the city’s air quality index reaching 277 according to the Sameer app, up from 214 at 7 am. It was a chilly day too, with the capital recording its coldest 1 November since 2023.
The spread across the city was worse than the headline number suggests. Of 54 monitoring stations, 25 were in the ‘very poor’ range and 18 in ‘poor’. On the Central Pollution Control Board scale, a reading from 201 to 300 is ‘poor’ and 301 to 400 ‘very poor’.
A cooler day
The India Meteorological Department said the minimum temperature was 18 degrees Celsius, 1.9 degrees below normal for the season. That was the lowest for the date since 2023, when the city recorded 16.4 degrees. The maximum of 29 degrees was the lowest on 1 November since 2021, when it was 27.2 degrees.
Relative humidity stood at 75 per cent at 5:30 pm.
The worsening came on the first day of the capital’s new winter pollution curbs, which took effect on Sunday morning.
What next
The weather office has forecast mainly clear skies for Monday, with a maximum of about 29 degrees and a minimum of 17 degrees.